Mock Drafts Give Vikings Offensive Tackle

The latest round of mock drafts — 20 collected from various draft media personalities around the web — seem dead set on giving the Minnesota Vikings an offensive tackle.

Minnesota does need offensive line help, and the pressure they allowed this season was masked by quarterback Case Keenum’s ability to escape oncoming defenders and get rid of the ball.

Nevertheless, it does seem odd that the Vikings would draft an offensive tackle shortly after signing two in free agency for a decent amount of money. Most of the analyses around the web do acknowledge the acquisition of both Riley Reiff and Mike Remmers, but project Remmers to play inside like he did at the end of the year to take over for the injury of Nick Easton.

Either way, it provides the Vikings with an upgrade at a critical position.

The next most common position mocked, naturally, is guard. Even with Remmers potentially on the inside, the Vikings not only have to deal with the upcoming retirement of Joe Berger, but they should seriously consider providing competition to Easton.

That means, even if Remmers fills one guard position, they have to add another guard to fill the other spot.

Seventy-five percent of the gathered mock drafts selected an offensive lineman for the Vikings, which means that a few draft analysts felt that Minnesota could have improved elsewhere, with a good chunk selecting players on the other side of the line.

Some of that has to do with the fact that Tom Johnson, turning 34 later this year, might not be with the Vikings or the NFL for very long. Despite a career year, he’s an unrestricted free agent who could retire soon — and upgrading at defensive tackle next to Linval Joseph could be enormous for an already stacked defense.

But one analyst — Daniel Jeremiah at the NFL Network — decided to give the Vikings a defensive end, which seems a bit odd.

There were also two defensive backs chosen. One was a safety and the other a cornerback, both positions that could use competition but don’t seem to be clear priorities. The breakdowns are below:

Arif Hasan has written for sites all across the internet and his work has been featured in the Star Tribune, LA Times, Forbes, SB Nation, International Business Times, the Bleacher Report and MSNBC. He's made radio appearances for 1500 ESPN, TSN, KATE 1450 and others. He currently also writes for the Daily Norseman and Optimum Scouting. You can find him on twitter at @ArifHasanNFL.

Arif, I remember when you wrote a piece in 2012 or 2013 to school folks stuck in 2010 or 2011 in their thinking about then Vikings safety Jamarca Sanford, and proved, I thought, that Sanford had developed into a competent, even good, NFL safety. Do you think Andrew Sendejo deserves the same kind of defense in 2018?